Shakshuka, The Interestings, and the People With Whom You Eat

A few years ago, deep in the throes of college, I got the chance to go to Israel with The David Project's Israel Uncovered trip. It was a crazy, nutso-wonderful time, and you can read a bit about what I was thinking while I was there in the post I did for their blog back in 2015. One of the things I most loved about it was the group with which we traveled. The David Project did a great job of throwing you into situations where you really had to immerse yourself in uncomfortable situations to grow, and I, a person who squirms when I need to call someone instead of emailing them, grew a lot, and part of this was thanks to a great group of people who also happened to be vegetarian. I spent a lot of time with them, mostly because we ate at our own exclusive table (with a few invite-only guest stars) so as not to contaminate our food with #themeat. We began our "Veggies Table" custom at the place where my Israeli food dreams came true: Dr. Shakshuka in Tel Aviv. 

Illustration by Caroline Josephine Brown.

Shakshuka, which my dad calls sharkshura, as in made of sharks, is a dish that is best enjoyed with interesting people who are hopefully not sick. There are no separate bowls or forks or spoons; everyone digs in with a hunk of bread and breaks egg yolks and scoops up melty feta cheese together, and it's an honest-to-goodness dinner, the kind that we ~millennials~ just don't have anymore according to a bunch of much older people judging us for our age.

She even redid the logo with my cats! Ah!

The latest group of good people with whom I enjoyed shakshuka included my co-worker / friend / constant source of calm, Caroline Josephine Brown, who illustrated the whole process as a part of #inktober. The drawings you'll find in this week's posts are by her, and I am high key obsessed. Check out her blog for more of her work!